Joanna’s Birthday Cruise

For my birthday, Dan took me on a 7-day Caribbean cruise, starting in Port Canaveral, Florida, and stopping in three places: Nassau- Bahamas, Amber Cove- Dominican Republic and Grand Turk- Turks and Caicos. We sailed with Carnival, on what is widely considered the best ship in their fleet–the Mardi Gras. We have been on several wonderful Carnival cruises together, but we agree that this one was exceptional.

Not only is the Mardi Gras much larger with more restaurants and activities, but the quality of the food and entertainment was certainly a grade above anything we have experienced previously with Carnival. The performers were spectacular! The singers and dancers were extraordinary! The aerialists were superb! The string trio was delightful and pleasurable. And the destinations were almost otherworldly.

Port Canaveral, Florida

Our ship started it’s journey from Port Canaveral, Florida, which is only about a 15 minute drive from Kennedy Space Center. We found a nice waterfront spot with an unobstructed view of the NASA facility, and we watched a SpaceX launch! It was my first, and I thought it was amazing!

Ironically, though, there was an explosion from this rocket that left debris over 800 miles away in Turks and Caicos–where we were headed on our cruise!

All Aboard!

We boarded the Mardi Gras in the early afternoon, and the first things we did were grab some lunch (and some ice cream of course) and explore the ship. And, WOW–hey kids–there is a roller coaster!! And water slides!!

And a basketball court! And mini golf, corn hole, pool tables, pickleball courts, shuffleboard, and foosball! And FIVE swimming pools! And a private pool/hot tub area for adults only called, “Serenity”.

Mardi Gras at Sea

The “Welcome Aboard” show was awesome! The cruise director, Jacky Tang (“Do Your Thang”), invited me on stage to hit the button to “activate the fun!” When I did, confetti came down from the ceiling, and music started playing and all the staff started dancing. Not gonna lie, I felt pretty special after that!

Dan told the staff at dinner that it was my birthday, so they gave me a cake and sang, “Happy Birthday”! It was Tiramisu, and it was delicious! And, such good script!

Every day, we had a new towel-creation on our bed. I only took a picture of this one, but I recall there was an elephant, a mouse and a giraffe. They sure are talented at folding towels! But, what is this? Hmmm

There was a giant screen by the pool where people could upload photos of their time on the ship. It was fun seeing everyone’s big smiles! I planned to upload this one of Dan and I, but I totally forgot!

We had some professional photos taken on board, too. We totally cheesed it up and I made Dan wear a hat! There are literally dozens more, but these were some of our favorites. Which one do you like best?

Holy Ship–SO Much Food!

This was one of the main buffets–where we ate breakfast every day, and sometimes lunch.

There were so many foods to choose from! In addition to our main dining room service and the buffets, there were specialty restaurants (Seafood, Sushi, Salads, Sandwiches, Burgers, BBQ, Falafel, Chicken, Italian, Chinese, pizza…), and some “street food” popups that were different every day.

We had midnight pizza here almost every night (Dan loved the mushroom pizza):

Big Chicken is open almost 24 hours. And, the potato salad on the buffet is delicious! And, if there are waffles on the buffet at breakfast, you can make your own chicken and waffles!

Guy’s Burger Joint is very tasty!

I am not a lobster person, but since it was included, I had some. Not bad, but kinda fishy for me!

The bbq was just, “alright”, so we only had it once. There were too many good foods to eat something just alright.

In the spirit of trying new things (and since they were included), Dan got some frog legs. Tasted kind of like chicken–only a little more chewy.

The Chinese food was scrumptious!

And the plating presentation was always very nice in the main dining room!

And, then there were the desserts!! The “Baked Alaska,” was my favorite–a cake and ice cream combo. SO yummy!

There was a sorbet place that had different offerings every day. The coconut and mango were my favorites.

And, I usually chose the melting cake or cheesecake after dinner.

And, of course, there was the 24-hour ice cream! Frozen yogurt for me, of course! We all scream for ice cream!

One more thing I’ll mention about the ship was that Dan and I competed in a synchronized swimming competition. They put us on separate teams, unfortunately. (Boo–I missed him.) Teams had to jump in the water, do a little performance, and then carry a teammate from the edge of the pool to the center–turn them around three times–and then place them back on the edge of the pool without them getting wet. I am happy to report that my team won! (Which was great for my self-confidence considering the fact that Dan beat me at absolutely everything else all week.) Seriously.

Okay, I lied about the one more thing–there is just one more thing. We also each sang a karaoke song. Dan sang, “Sweet Caroline” and I sang “Drift Away.” It was fun to watch Dan as he commanded the room and had all the old folks dancing and singing along. And, it was pretty cool to hear people react to me singing with fun comments like, “she’s got soul!” I guess I can still carry a tune after all these years–but for some reason I have this innate ability to turn anything into a southern gospel song. C’est la vie–that’s just me, I guess!

Nassau, Bahamas

I braided my own hair for Nassau–mostly so I wouldn’t get bombarded with offers when I got off the ship. If you know, you know. Also, it kept my neck nice and cool!

One of the first sites you see when you arrive in Nassau is the Atlantis resort. It is quite an eye-catcher, for sure! Rumor has it that the bridge suite costs $25,000 per night, and was once the most expensive hotel suite in the world!

A visit to Atlantis was not our plan, though. Instead, we decided to venture off-the-beaten path (that’s more our style) and take a self-guided tour of the island. In some ways, it wasn’t the best choice…but it all worked out in the end. 😉 Spoiler alert–we survived!

First, we walked a little over a mile from the cruise ship to Junkanoo beach. There were several people swimming there, and the water looked nice. But, we decided to keep on walking so we could get a little more of the “real” Bahamian experience.

We passed a very cool “old school” looking carnival. It wasn’t up and running, but it looked like fun!

If it hadn’t been for the fences, we probably would have snuck in and had a look around. 😉

But, we were on a mission to find this old fort I had read about online. Too bad it wasn’t easy to find! And, in the process of trying, we stumbled upon an abandoned(?) botanical garden–so naturally, we walked through the (propped open) gate and let ourselves in.

There was also this lovely little playground–just like the ones I remember from my childhood. Anybody else out there remember these?

Yes, back in our day we did not have shredded rubber tires to walk on and soft plastic playhouses. We had grass and dirt and rusty old iron and splintery wood. And, when you sat on the hot metal slides, you would burn your bum! True story!

It was at some point during our exploration of the garden that I started to panic that we were trespassing and might be thrown into Bahamian prison, so I said, “Let’s get out of here.” We walked to the nearest exit, but the gate was padlocked. I really started sweating when I saw that the top of the fence was coiled with barbed wire.

So, we turned around and headed back for the spot we came in (probably a twenty minute walk back at this point.) Thankfully, our point of entry was still unlocked, so we were able to escape. Dan was able to pull up a map (cell service was terrible there) and ultimately navigate us to the fort we were looking for…..but not without some big scares along the way. (Most significantly being the sound of hundreds of angry, barking dogs in the distance that turned out to be a fenced-in humane-society shelter.)

But, we found the fort! And if you look closely, you’ll see I’m in the picture to prove it!

We took a guided tour (only like $5/ea), and we learned that the fort was built by the English in 1789 as protection from the French–who never actually came to bother them. So, they used it as a gathering/ ceremonial type place.

It was carved by hand from solid limestone, and if you look closely, you can still see the chisel marks!

The next landmark we set out to find was the Queen’s Staircase. Also referred to as the, “Sixty-Six Steps,” this 1830’s staircase–named after Queen Victoria–connects the broader city to the fort area. Too bad we didn’t know that when we started our journey. We could have saved ourselves thousands of steps and the terror of wild dogs. But, whatever.

We look tired, don’t we?! We were! And SO sweaty!

I would have liked to jump in the waterfall, but I figured that was not socially acceptable–at least when there were people around.

After we left the staircase, we headed back towards the port. And, we stumbled upon this one place where I’ve heard Jimmy Buffet say it’s always 5 O’Clock….but it was actually only 2pm. So, I’m confused!

Side note–Nassau is full of pretty pink houses!

After about four hours exploring Nassau on our own, we made it back to the ship! And we felt accomplished after our wild-urban-off-roadin’-adventure in a foreign country. Sweaty and Satisfied!

After we were back onboard, we looked out to port and wondered what other people had done with their time in Nassau that day. Looks like there were lots of things out there we didn’t do! Maybe next time!

We cleaned ourselves up and snapped a selfie just as the boat was pulling away. Hope to be back in Nassau some day!

Amber Cove, Dominican Republic

When we arrived in Amber Cove, we planned to swim at the beach. But, it turned out, you can’t get to the beach on foot. In fact, when we tried, we unknowingly left the port and had to check in once again later to get back in to our designated area. This is where that happened:

So, instead of having a day of self-guided exploration, we had a day of doing touristy things–the things we were “supposed” to do. “Like sheep,” Dan calls it.

We came upon a huge waterpark area just for cruise guests. Everyone was swimming and drinking giant margaritas. But, I was determined to do something a little different and somewhat scary, so when I spotted a zip line, I knew that was the adventure for me. It was my first time ever doing a zip line! And second, and third, and fourth! Yep, I did it four times. It was a thrill! I can’t wait to do it again!

We also rode the water slides a few times! And walked through the lazy river!

After a few hours of playful fun in the sun, we walked back to the ship. Once again, sweaty and satisfied!

I captured a few photos of the port before sailing away.

Grand Turk, Turks and Caicos

Grand Turk was my favorite port of all. I loved being able to walk from the ship to the beach. This photo, however, is not my favorite of all–because my eyes are closed. But, it is the only one we took with the Grand Turk sign, so thus, it becomes part of the blog.

I loved that we didn’t have to walk too far down the beach until we found a private spot where we could soak it all in together as a couple.

The beaches were pristine. The water was SO blue–and cool, but not cold. And the sand was soft and warm, but not too hot. It was absolute paradise!

I am already looking forward to my next birthday so I can request another cruise. Sounds like the best birthday tradition ever to me! But, where should we go…..Alaska? Spain? Or maybe more Caribbean paradise?

Guess we’ll have to wait and see.

XOXO,

Joanna

P.S.

Don’t worry, I’ll add the traditional animal portrait for you below. I found this little friend in Port Canaveral while waiting for the rocket launch. What a cutie!